3 In several Western countries, patient choice is a pivotal element in today s healthcarepolicy.ithasmultiplegoals,animportantonebeingtoencourage providerstocompetewitheachother.inthiscontext,patientsareenabled andencouragedtoactivelychooseahealthcareprovideror,inotherwords, tomakeadeliberate,rationalchoicebetweenhealthcareprovidersbasedon comparativequalityandcostinformation.intheory,themoneyfollowsthe patients and so patients who choose actively make healthcare providers compete for them by improving the care they deliver. Ultimately, this shouldleadtomoreefficienthealthcareatahigherlevelofquality.patient choiceisalsoagoalinitself.empoweringpatientsbygivingthemtheright andtheopportunitytomakeautonomousproviderchoicesisbelievedtobe an important asset for patients. The goal of this thesis was to test these policyassumptionsregardingpatientchoiceofhealthcareprovidersagainst the reality. Firstly, it provides insight into how patients actually choose a healthcare provider. Secondly, it investigates if patient choice (both the opportunitytochooseandactivelydoingso)couldbringabouttheintended effects.thiswasdonebyexaminingwhetherarelationshipexistsbetween patients healthcare provider selection processes and the perceived quality ofcare. ThegoalsofPart1ofthisthesiswere:1)togetabetterunderstandingof theconceptof patientchoiceofhealthcareproviders aspostulatedinthe supportingdocumentationforhealthcaresystemreform;and2)toprovidea pictureofwhatisalreadyknownaboutpatientchoiceinexistingliterature. A policy analysis and a scoping review were conducted. Because existing researchindicatedthatpatientsdonotnormallymakeactivechoicesabout healthcareproviders,thesecondpartofthethesisinvestigatedhowpatients then choose, or end up at, a particular hospital and which factors influencetheirprocessofmakingachoice.theproximityofproviders,the availability of alternative options and the advice given by the general practitioner (GP) were found to be important determinants of patients choiceofproviders.therefore,theinfluenceofthesefactorsonwhetheror not patients make an active choice was also investigated in more detail in thispartofthethesis.finally,inthethirdpartofthethesis,westudiedthe relationship between patients hospital selection process and the quality of care they experience, i.e.whether specific patient groups perceive having received higher quality care than other groups. This provides insight into whetherpatientchoicecouldleadtohigherqualitycare,bothoverallandfor individualpatients,asexpectedbypolicymakers. 186 'Chapter'8

4 Inthisfinalchapter,Iwillsummarizethekeyfindingsforeachresearch question formulated in Chapter1 and elaborate on the implications of the study outcomes for both the scientific literature and policy. Policy recommendationsandresearchsuggestionsareoffered. Main"Findings" ' Part"1" Research' question' 1:' What' assumptions' did' policy' makers' have' about' patients ' choice' of' healthcare' providers' when' the' new' Dutch' healthcare' system'was'developed?' ' Patient choice of healthcare providers is both a goal in itself and a pivotal element in a system where regulated competition between healthcare providers is key to controlling the evolution of costs and improving and safeguarding the quality, efficiency and accessibility of healthcare. Within the context of regulated competition, patients are expected to behave as rationalactorsandtomakeactivechoicesofhealthcareproviders:basedon comparative information, from all available alternative providers, patients ought to deliberately choose the one that delivers the cheapest, highest qualitycare.thepolicyanalysisweconductedindicatesthatpolicymakers assume that if certain conditions are satisfied, patients will make active providerchoices.thoseconditionsare:thatpatientsarewillingandableto choose, travel and switch provider; that sufficient quality and costs informationisavailabletoinformpatients;thatthereareenoughhealthcare providers to choose between; and that patients are free to choose their healthcare provider. Several instruments have been put in place to ensure that patients can act as consumers on the healthcare market. For instance comparativequalityinformationisprovidedtomakesurethatpatientsare wellvinformed. The government obliges providers to publish understandable,effectiveandcorrectcomparativeinformation.otheractors also contribute to the availability of comparative information, such as patient organizations. However, much less attention has been paid to the willingness and ability of patients to choose a provider. Also, the consequences on equity of outcomes if several patient groups are less inclinedorcapabletochooseactivelyhasreceivedlittleattention.thesame Summary'and'discussion' 187

5 conditions and instruments are important for patient choice as a goal in itself,especiallytherighttofreelychooseahealthcareprovider. ' Research'question'2:'What'is'already'known'about'whether'and'how'patients' choose' a' specific' healthcare' provider' and' the' provider' characteristics' they' base'their'choice'on?' ' Patient choice of a healthcare provider does not seem to be as straightforward a process as is sometimes assumed in health policy. Our literature review indicates that patients choices are determined by a complexinterplaybetweenavarietyofpatientandprovidercharacteristics. There is no such thing as the typical patient: different patients make differentchoicesindifferentsituations.additionally,researchindicatesthat patients do not, generally, choose actively. Reasons are that a substantial proportion of patients do not think active choice is very important, that choice opportunities are limited for many patients and that the available information is not enough or unsuitable for basing decisions on. Because mostpatientsareunableand/orunwillingtomakeanactivechoice,thereis adifferencebetweentheprovidercharacteristicsthatpatientssaytheybase theirdecisiononandhowtheyendupataparticularproviderinreallife. Althoughpatientsseemtoattachimportancetocomparativeinformationin hypothetical situations, in real life they visit the default provider. The defaulteffectmeansthatpeopledonottakeactionor,inthepatientchoice context, do not actively choose a provider but simply visit the standard option. Examples of the default option are the nearest provider, the one patients have visited before or the one they are referred to. Additionally, patientsbasetheirdecisionsnotonlyonoutcomequalityindicatorsbutalso on a variety of provider characteristics. In fact, although the importance attached to the different characteristics varies among the patient groups; structure(openinghours,facilities)and inparticular processindicators (e.g. communication, information) are generally more important than outcome indicators (patient experiences, mortality rates). It can thus be arguedthatthechoiceprocessismuchmorecomplexthanisoftenassumed. ' ' ' " " 188 'Chapter'8

6 Part"2" Research' question' 3:' How' do' patients' either' choose' or' end' up' at ' a' particular' hospital' and' which' factors' determine' patients ' processes' when' choosing'a'hospital?' ' Interviews with hospital patients were used for identifying various factors thatactasbarrierstoorstimuli/enablersforactivechoiceofproviders.most patients took the default hospital mainly because making an active choice wasnotanimportantissueforthem.patientsoftenhadnoreasontomake anactivechoice.thedefaulthospitalwasforexamplenearbyandtheywere content with the care they had previously received there. Others felt that theydidnothaveanyopportunitytochoose,forexamplebecausetheyhad noalternativechoicesintheirenvironmentorhadalreadyembarkedupon one care path and it was hard or illogical for them to switch providers. Based on these factors and the extent to which their choice was active, we classified patients into patient groups regarding the way they choose or endupat aparticularhospital.asubsequentquantitativestudyprovided insights into the relative sizes of the different groups in a research sample thatwasrepresentativefordutchhospitalpatients.thepatientgroupsthat weidentifiedwere: 1. Patientswithoutanopportunitytochoose(37%):Patientswhoexplicitly state they have no opportunity to choose, often because they have already embarked upon a care path. For instance, their GP may refer themtoaparticularhospital,theircarehistoryisknownthereortheydo not know their diagnosis in advance and consequently cannot choose a hospitalthatspecializesintheircondition(theystayatthehospitalthey ended up at initially because it is illogical or inconvenient to switch to anotherhospital). 2. Passive patients (21%): Patients who simply attend the default hospital withoutgivingitanythought.choiceisatrivialissueforthesepatients. Forinstance,theyalreadyknewwhichhospitaltheywouldgoto,orthey endupsomewhereanditissensibletostaythereortothinkthatthere wouldnotbeanyqualitydifferences. 3. Default choosers (27%): Patients who deliberately choose the default hospitalanddonotwanttovisitanotherone.havingtheopportunityto chooseisimportantforthesepatients,butonlytomakesuretheyareable tovisitthedefaultprovider.althoughtheyregardtheissueofmakingan Summary'and'discussion' 189

7 activehospitalchoiceastrivial,theystillvaluetheopportunitytovisita particular hospital, mainly out of loyalty or for practical reasons. They mayforinstancefindthatotherhospitalsaretoofarawayorthatvisiting anotherhospitalwouldbetoomuchtrouble. 4. Patientsexhibitingchoicebehaviour(14%):Patientswhouseinformation about hospitals in order to help them choose one and/or consider attendinganotherhospital.mostofthemarepromptedtomakeanactive choice of a hospital. They want a second opinion, for instance, or have hadabadexperienceataparticularhospital.however,someofthemdo correspond to the image of the autonomous healthcare consumer, regardless of the situation. They believe that differences in quality between hospitals do exist and that it is perfectly possible to make an active choice. Consistently with existing literature, only a small part of thisgroup(around5%)ofallpatientscanbeconsideredastrulyactive,in that they both considered attending another hospital and used information about hospitals in the selection process. The rest of this grouponlyexhibitedoneoftheseactivitytraits. Research' question' 4:' To' what' degree' does' the' availability' of' a' realistic' alternative'in'terms'of'its'absolute'proximity'from'a'patient s'home'address' determine'the'intention'to'make'an'active'choice?' ' We found that the majority of patients do not search for comparative information about hospitals/specialists when they need hospital care. Whetherpatientssearchedforinformationwasinfluencedbytheavailability of a realistic alternative in terms of its absolute proximity. However, this influencewasnotthesameforeveryone.older,lesseducatedpatientswere lesslikelytosearchforinformationwhentheylivefurtherawayfromtheir nearestalternativehospital.furthermore,peoplewithlongvtermconditions werelesslikelytosearchforinformationandwomenweremorelikelytodo so. Research'question'5:'At'the'point'of'referral,'what'is'the'role'of'the'patient'in' choosing'a'healthcare'provider'and'to'what'extent'do'gps'help'patients'make' an'active'choice'of'a'healthcare'provider?' FromtheobservationsofpatientVGPconsultations,itseemsthatthepolicy onpatientchoiceisnotreflectedindailypractice.themajorityofpatients 190 'Chapter'8

8 hadlittleinputinthechoiceofahealthcareprovideratthepointofreferral by their GP. Their GPs took the initiative for these referrals and chose a healthcareproviderforthesepatients,askingonlyforpatients preferences in some of the consultations. They did not discuss alternative referral options. They indicated a preference for a specific healthcare provider but did not explain why. When they gave information it was solely practical. However, differences exist in the roles that GPs and patients play in the choiceofahealthcareprovideratthepointofreferral.aminorityofpatients choseahealthcareproviderthemselveswithoutthegprestrictingtheirset ofchoices.thesepatientsdidnotnecessarilymakeadeliberatechoicebased on comparative information, as is expected according to the policy on patientchoice,buttheydidatleastplayamoreactiveroleinthechoiceofa provider at the point of referral. In the case of these patients, their GP seemed to have supported them in becoming actively involved in their choiceofahealthcareprovider.theprocessthatpatientsfollowfromtheir first demand for care until the end of their treatment, known as the healthcare path, seemed to have had some influence on the amount of inputthatpatientshadintheirownreferraldestination.patientswhowere referred for diagnostic purposes seem to have had less input into their choiceofproviderthanpatientswhowerereferredfortreatment. " Part"3" Research' question' 6:' Is' there' a' relationship' between' patients ' healthcare' provider'selection'processes'and'the'perceived'quality'of'care? Thepolicytheoryunderlyingthepromotionofpatientchoiceimpliesthata relationship should exist between patients healthcare provider selection processes(thefourpatientgroupswefoundinchapter4)andthequalityof thecarepatientsreportedhavingreceivedatthehospitaltheywentto.our studyshowsthatthisrelationshipdoesindeedexist.patientswhoexhibited choicebehaviourreportedmoresubstantialhealthimprovementsaftertheir hospital visits than passive patients who simply attended the default hospitalwithoutpriorconsideration.inaddition,patientsexhibitingchoice behaviour gave lower scores on two of the three patient experience measures we used. This could indicate that they have higher expectations and are more critical regarding the care they receive and that they make more active choices as a consequence. However, as relatively few patients madetrulyactivehospitalchoicesandmanyreportedalackofopportunity Summary'and'discussion' 191

9 tochoose,itisopentoquestionwhetherpatientchoicecouldreallyfunction asaninstrumenttoenhancethequalityofcare. Wefoundtoothatarelationshipbetweenhaving'an'opportunity'to'choose andtheperceivedqualityofcareisatleastasstrongasthatbetweenchoice' activityandtheperceivedqualityofcare.patientswhohadtheopportunity tochooseahospitalvbutdidnotnecessarilymakeuseofthisopportunityv reported better patient experiences than their counterparts. The positive relationshipbetweenhavingchoiceopportunityandtheperceivedqualityof careindicatesthatpatientchoice,aspolicymakersexpected,isanimportant benefitforpatients.eventhoughmostpatientsdidnotactivelychoosethe highestqualityhospital,patientshaveabettercareexperienceiftheyhave therightandopportunityvi.e.theautonomyvtoattendthehospitaloftheir preference. Methodological"reflection" " Strengthsandlimitationshavealreadybeengivenforeachindividualstudy. However, the most important ones are stressed in this paragraph. Firstly, contrary to most other research on patient choice, this thesis does not assumethatchoosingaproviderisadeliberateaction.consequently,itdoes not focus on patients preferences regarding provider characteristics but starts from the assumption that patients differ in their intentions and opportunities to make a choice. Patients might not be bothered about the choice of a provider, simply because there is no reason for them to be. In healthcare, patients tend to focus their time and energy on their health problem,whilerelyingontheexpertiseoftheirdoctorstotreattheminthe bestpossiblewayandmakechoicesontheirbehalf.wefoundthatpatients will only choose when something happens, such as a bad experience with the default provider, and when patients have the opportunity to make a choice. Only then do their preferences regarding provider characteristics become important. A second strength is that we focused primarily on choices that were made in real choice situations. The scoping review we conducted pointed out that relatively few studies analysed real choices, usingexperimentaldesignsinstead.thereisadifferencebetweenthefactors that patients say they find important and the ones they actually base their decisionson.itisthereforeimportanttofocusonrealchoicesituationsifyou want to know how patients really choose. An important limitation of this 192 'Chapter'8

10 thesis concerns the fact that we did not study the relationship between patients healthcareproviderselectionprocessesandtheobjectivequalityof care.wecanthereforeonlysaythatpatientchoicemightbeabletofunction asaninstrumenttoenhancequalityofcareandnotthatitreallydoeswork as such an instrument. FollowVup research should study whether patients whoexhibitedchoicebehaviourselecthospitalsofhigherqualityaccording toexistingcomparativeinformation.anotherlimitationisthatthestudyinto the relationship between patients healthcare provider selection processes andtheperceivedqualityofcaredidnotprovideinsightsintowhythetwo concepts are related. Based on the policy theory, we assumed that active patientsexperiencebettercarebecausetheychoseabetterhospitalandthat patientswhohavetheopportunitytochooseexperiencebettercarebecause having the opportunity to choose is an important benefit for patients. However,therelationshipbetweenpatientchoiceandperceivedqualityof caremightbeattributabletodifferentmechanisms.forinstance,thefactthat some patient groups reported better patient experiences and patient reportedoutcomesmightbelessaneffectofchoiceonqualitythanaresult of cognitivedissonance ( becauseichosethishospital,itmustbeagood one ).Futureresearchshouldclarifythisissue. Implications" " Intheintroduction,adistinctionwasmadebetween choiceinpractice and choice in policy theory. This distinction is made again below while elaboratingontheimplicationsofthestudyoutcomes.firstly,ourfindings will be compared to existing literature and suggestions for future research willbedefined.themeaningofourfindingsforpolicyonpatientchoicewill subsequently be outlined and recommendations for policy makers will be given. Choice"in"practice" Consistentlywithexistingliterature, (1) thisthesisindicatesthatmostpatients do not actively choose a healthcare provider. They either have the feeling that they do not have the opportunity to choose, or they go to the default provider, for instance the nearest one. This was also found by earlier studies. (2V7) Althoughsomepatientswithspecificcharacteristicsaregenerally moreinclinedtomakeanactivechoiceofprovider, (8) patientsonlyadoptthe Summary'and'discussion' 193

11 consumerroleiftheydonothavearelationshipwithaprovideryet,orin specificsituations(forinstanceiftheyhadabadcareexperience). (1,9V11) Inthe introduction, several concepts and theories were specified that lead to the following explanations for the fact that patients often go to the default provider instead of actively choosing one: 1) patients are loyal to their current or local provider; 2) patients often do not have the opportunity to choose; 3) many patients see no reason to make an active choice and 4) people are generally not able to make completely rational choices. Our researchindicatesthatallofthemareplausible. Firstly, even though most patients did not actively choose the highest quality provider, a significant proportion of them still valued having autonomyor,inotherwords,havingtherightandopportunitytochoosea provider,becausethatensuredthattheycouldattendthedefaultprovider. Thisisinlinewithexistingliterature. (12) Whiletheuptakeofactivechoiceis slow, (2) patients do have certain preferences and therefore value the opportunity to visit their hospital. (13) As is often claimed, the right and opportunitytochooseenhanceourlives. (14,15) Thefactthatpatientspreferto visit the default provider complies with the organizational theory of Hirschman.Accordingtothattheory,patientswhoarenotsatisfiedwiththe performanceofahealthcareproviderareassumedtoleave(exit)ortogive voicetotheirdissatisfaction(voice).whetherornottostaylargelydepends onthedegreeofloyaltyofthepatientstothespecificprovider(loyalty). (16) Ourfindingsindicatethatpatientsareindeedloyaltothedefaultprovider or to the physician who chose it on their behalf. We even found that, althoughhavingabadexperiencewiththedefaulthospitalpromptspatients to bypass it, some of them select an alternative hospital only for a specific specialty. Some patients even stayed with, or went back to, the default hospitaloncetheirconsultanthadapologized. Thesecondexplanationisthatpatientsoftendonothavetheopportunity tochoose.wedidindeedfindthatalargegroupofpatientsexplicitlystated they had no opportunity to choose, primarily because of their healthcare pathway. It seems that the nature of healthcare does not lend itself for makingrationalchoices. Existingliteraturealsoindicatesthat,althoughthe logic (meaningful coherent cluster of ways of thinking and doing) of choosingisconsistentwiththeworkingsoffreemarketswhereautonomous peoplemakechoicesbetweenclearlyvdefinedproducts,itdoesnotfitinwell with the dayvtovday reality of healthcare. (17) For instance, although several choiceoptionsareneededforpatientstochoosebetween,thereareoftenno 194 'Chapter'8

12 realisticalternativesinhealthcare.wedidindeedfindthattheavailabilityof choice alternatives positively influences the degree to which patients choicesareactive,whichisconsistentwithexistingliterature. (18) Thelogicof caringseemstodescribethewaysofthinkinganddoinginhealthcarebetter than the logic of choosing. The logic of caring assumes that caring rather thanchoosingmattermoreinhealthcare.careisnotaproductbutaprocess that patients follow from their first demand for care until the end of their treatment.thisisknownasthe healthcarepath.patients healthcarepaths donotalwaysallowforchoices.wedidindeedfind,consistentlywiththe logic of caring, that hospital patients who were interviewed felt that they werealreadysittinginamovingtrainanditwashardorillogicalforthemto getoffthattrain.theydidnotknowtheirdiagnosisinadvanceorthought thattheyonlyhadaminorproblem.consequently,theycouldnotchoosea hospitalthatspecializedintheirconditionorthoughtthatchoosingahighv qualityhospitalwasunnecessary.oncetheywerediagnosed,itwaseasierto stayattheircurrenthospital.ourstudyfocusingonthemomentofreferral bypatients GPalsohighlightedtheimportanceofpatients healthcarepath. Patients who did not know their diagnosis in advance more often let their GPdecideonaprovider. Thethirdexplanationisthatpatientsarenotbotheredaboutthechoiceof ahospital,becausetheyseenoreasontomakeanactivechoice.thedefault hospitalis,forexample,nearbyandtheyarecontentwiththecaretheyhad previously received there. Patients expect sufficiently high quality care wherever they go. This also corresponds to the logic of caring, which assumes that caring is not about choosing. In healthcare, patients tend to focus their time and energy on their health problem, while relying on the expertiseoftheirdoctorstotreattheminthebestpossibleway. Finally, it is often claimed that people in general are unable to make completelyrationalchoices, (4) bothbecausetheyhaveinsufficientcognitive abilitiestomakerationalchoicesandbecausethereareimperfectionsinthe market.inthecaseofhealthcare,usableinformationtoguidethechoiceof provider is scarce, for example, (19) which means that patients are insufficientlywellinformedtomakeeducatedchoices. (20) Consequently,asis oftenclaimed,decisionmakingissubjecttobiasesandheuristicstosimplify thechoiceproblem.forinstance,patientsoptforthefirstalternativethatis satisfactoryandarebiasedinfavourofthecurrentprovider,i.e.thedefault option. (4,21V23) We did indeed find that patients do not consider themselves Summary'and'discussion' 195

13 expertsonthequalityofhospitals.theyindicatedthattheydonothavea goodpictureofthequalityofthecarethatisdeliveredatotherhospitals. Relying on the GP to choose a hospital on their behalf or visiting the hospital they are familiar with were ways patients coped with this lack of insight. Differences'between'patients' Althoughmostpatientsdonothaveareasontobebotheredaboutthechoice ofaproviderordonotevenhavetheopportunitytochoose,animportant finding of this thesis is that patients differ in the way they choose a healthcareprovider.consistentlywithexistingresearch(e.g.(8,24)),various factorswerefoundtoformbarriersoralternativelywereenablers/facilitators of active choice. They were divided into patient characteristics (e.g.age); provider characteristics (e.g.teaching hospital); healthcare system characteristics(e.g.numberofalternativeproviders);andinteractionfactors V factors related to both the healthcare sector and the patients (e.g.gp referralsandpatients healthcarepaths). Female, younger, better educated patients and those with a higher income (patient characteristics) are for instance more inclined to exhibit choice behaviour. Existing research (e.g.(12, 24)) claims that these patients havebetteraccesstohealthcareservices.accordingtodusheiko,thebetter educated or economically advantaged are more health literate, better informed and more mobile and have higher expectations about the possibility of obtaining improved treatment elsewhere. Consequently, they canaffordtheincreasedsearchandtravelcosts,obtainingfasteraccesstothe best services. (12) Also, patients living in areas where alternative choice options are nearby (a healthcare system characteristic) have greater accessibilitytohealthcareservices.thesepatientsaremoreinclinedtomake anactivechoicethanpatientslivinginanareawithoutlocalalternatives. (18) Patients also differ in whether or not they are prompted to make an active choice. For instance, consistently with existing literature, we found that although patients often rely on the GP to choose a hospital on their behalf(interactionfactor),gpsvaryconsiderablyintheextenttowhichthey actively support patient choice. (25) Consequently, patients differ in the amountofinputtheyhaveinthedecisionabouttheirreferraldestinationat thepointofreferral.inaddition,somepatientsencountersituationsduring theirhealthcarepathwaythatenableandencouragethemtomakeanactive choice, while (consistently with the logic of caring (17) ) most do not. For 196 'Chapter'8

14 instance, we found that patients who did not know or suspect their diagnosis in advance and were referred for diagnostic purposes had less inputintheirchoiceofaprovideratthepointofreferralthanpatientswho werereferredfortreatment.oncetheyembarkedonapathofcare,itwas illogical or inconvenient for them to make an active choice. On the other hand, some patients were offered the opportunity to choose another provider by their current physician or had a bad experience with that physicianwhichpromptedthemtoswitchproviders. ' Future'research" Althoughthisthesisisavaluablecontributiontoexistingliteraturebecause ithasacquiredinsightsintopatients providerchoiceprocessesbystudying real choice situations, several suggestions for followvup research can be considered: " In this thesis, the relationship between patients healthcare provider selection processes and the perceived quality of care was investigated. FollowVup research should be conducted into the relationship between patients healthcareproviderselectionprocessesandtheobjectivequality ofcare,forinstancebystudyingwhetherpatientswhoexhibitedchoice behaviour selected hospitals of higher quality according to existing comparativeinformation. Because the study into the relationship between patients healthcare provider selection processes and the perceived quality of care did not provide insights into why the two concepts are related, followvup researchshouldprovideinsightsintotheunderlyingmechanismsofthe relationshipbetweenpatientchoiceandtheperceivedqualityofcare. Thisthesisindicatesthatactivepatientsaremorecriticalaboutthecare they receive and that active choice is associated with higher patient reported outcome measures (PROMS). On the other hand, not many patients actively choose a healthcare provider. Future research should investigatewhetherthecompetitivepressurearisingfrompatientsinthe healthcare provider market is a sufficient stimulus for providers to improvethecaretheydeliver.additionally,itwouldbeagoodideato studywhetherthereisanyreasontofearhealthcareprovidersadjusting the care they deliver only for active patients, and thus neglecting the largergroupofpatientswhodonotchooseactively.however,tobeable toinvestigatethelatterissue,itisfirstnecessarytoacquireinsightsinto Summary'and'discussion' 197

15 the characteristics of the patients belonging to the different patient groupswedefined. Futureresearchshouldthereforeinvestigatewhetherthepatientgroups differ from each other with regard to several factors that are found to influence choice activity and opportunity in existing literature, for instancetheextenttowhichpatients illnessinfluencestheirlife(illness perception). As well as allowing an answer to the question of whether caremightonlybeadjustedforspecificpatientgroups,researchintothe differencesbetweenthegroupsprovidesmoreinsightintothesituations inwhichpatientsdoanddonotmakeactivechoicesandenablespolicy makerstofocusanymeasuresthataretakentoenable/encouragepatient choice on the different groups identified. The current study already showed that the groups differ from each other in terms of their demographics,whichisconsistentwithexistingliterature.itishowever worth noting that the way patients choose a provider is not a static patient characteristic. The typology is based on patients choice behaviour, and not on e.g.their demographic characteristics. Although some patients are more inclined to make active choices than their counterparts, any one patient might probably choose differently in another situation and consequently belong to another patient group in that situation. Although older patients tend to be willing to visit the defaulthospital,iftheythinkthattheirillnesswillhavealargeinfluence, theymayactivelychoosenevertheless. Policy on patient choice concerns the choice of all kinds of providers, while this thesis mainly focused on the choice of a hospital. Although existingliteraturedoesnotindicatethatthechoiceofanyotherkindof providerisprocessedverydifferently,futureresearchcouldinvestigate how patients choose other kinds of providers, for instance a physiotherapist,inmoredetail.ifpatients choicesoftheseprovidersare moreactive,wecouldlearnfromthesechoicesituationsandapplythis knowledge to the choice of a hospital. This also applies to situations in which it is more likely for patients to actively choose a hospital, for instance when they need to visit a hospital for an illness about which sufficientinformationisavailable,suchasbreastcancer.itwouldalsobe interesting to study the choices of patients who visited a hospital or independent treatment facility specializing in a few specific conditions, sinceitismorelikelythattheirproviderchoicehadbeenactive. 198 'Chapter'8

16 Patientsmightbemoreactiveregardingthechoiceofatreatment.Future research should investigate patients processes when choosing a treatment.knowledgeaboutpatientchoiceofatreatmentcouldalsobe appliedtothechoiceofaprovider. Finally,patients healthcarepaths(theprocessthatpatientsfollowfrom theirfirstdemandforcareuntiltheendoftheirtreatment)werefoundto be an important determinant of patients choice process. It would be interestingtogetmoreinsightsintopatients healthcarepath,forinstance theprogressionoftheirhealthcarepath,thechoicestheycanandhaveto makeonthispath,whethertheyareawareofthosechoicemomentsor notandtheprocessofmakingachoice,theproblemstheyencounterand needs they have at these moments. Future research could, for example, followpatientsalongtheirhealthcarepath. " Choice"in"policy"theory" As explained in the introduction, the assumption that critical patients promptproviderstocompetewitheachother,leadingtomoreefficientand bettercareisbasedontwotheories:1)thetheoryofmanagedcompetition developedbyenthoven; (26) and2)theorganizationaltheoryofhirschman. (16) Fromthetheoryofmanagedcompetition,itisassumedthatpatientsactively chooseahealthcareprovider.fromtheorganizationaltheorydevelopedby Hirschman, (23) itisassumedthatpatientswhoarenotcontentwiththecare deliveredbyaprovider punish thembygoingelsewhere(exit)orstayand attempt to improve the services by giving voice to their dissatisfaction (voice). In both scenario s, providers seeking to maximize profits must compete to obtain and retain patients as their clients by adjusting the care theydelivertosuitpatients needsandwishes,becausethemoneyfollows the patients. (19) Because there are imperfections in the healthcare market, competition between providers is managed. (19) This means that a sponsor acting on behalf of the patients establishes rules to create and sustainafreeandfairhealthcaremarket, (26) forinstancerulestoensurethat theconditionsforpatientchoicearesatisfied.thoseconditionsare:patients arewilling/abletochoose,travelandswitchprovider;sufficientqualityand cost information is available to inform patients; there are sufficient healthcareproviderstochoosebetween;andpatientsarefreetochoosetheir healthcareprovider. This thesis indicates that the conditions that policy makers considered necessary to enable and encourage patient choice are not or are not yet Summary'and'discussion' 199

17 satisfied, especially patients ability and willingness to choose a provider. Partly because of this, patients processes of choosing a provider proceed differentlythanexpectedbypolicymakers.inpractice,fewpatientsexhibit choice behaviour activity and only some of these patients are truly active. Although some barriers to choice we identified might be reduced by satisfyingtheconditionsforpatientchoice,manyothersareinherentinthe healthcare sector. The logic of choosing simply does not seem to fit into healthcare. The process of ending up at a specific provider does not resemblethattheactionofselectinganenergysupplier,forinstance.policy makersmightthereforeneedtoadjusttheirexpectationsregardingtheway patients choose a provider and the effects patient choice will have on the overallqualityofcare. On the other hand, however, not all patients need to make an active choice for competition to be encouraged. In fact, as per the organizational theory of Hirschman, active patients provide the hospital with a feedback mechanism that triggers an effort to improve while the passive patients provide it with the funds needed for that improvement. (16) In addition, we foundthatpatientswhoexhibitchoicebehaviourhadagreaterhealthgain resultingfromtheirtreatmentandweremorecriticalregardingthepatientv centredness of the care they received. Therefore, patient choice might function as an instrument to enhance quality to some extent. Whether the competitive pressure arising from patients in the provider market is sufficient for encouraging providers to improve the care they deliver remainsunknown,however. Inanyevent,patientsdovaluetheopportunitytohavemoreautonomy regarding the choice of a provider. We found that patients who indicated thattheydidnothavetheopportunitytofreelychooseaproviderreported worse patient experiences than their counterparts. Because of this and because some patients do make active choices, patient choice is still a worthwhileeffortforpatientsifitenablesthemtochooseaproviderfreely andhelpsthemmaketherightchoices.forinstance,patientscouldbemade aware of their right to choose at several moments during their healthcare pathwayandoftherelevanceofchoosingahospitalthatisbestabletohelp them. ' ' 200 'Chapter'8

18 Policy'recommendations' Thefindingsofthisthesisleadtothefollowingpolicyrecommendations: Onereasonwhyfewpatientsactivelychooseahealthcareprovideristhat they believe that they lack the opportunity to choose a provider freely. Although many of the barriers to active choice that we identified are inherentinthehealthcaresector,carefulconsiderationshouldbegivento the question of how healthcare could be organized to enable and encourage patient choice. Currently, healthcare is not focused on or suitable for making active choices. Consequently, patients do not have clear moments during their healthcare pathway at which they could makeanactivechoiceofprovider.forinstance,atthemomentofreferral by the GP, many patients do not know their diagnosis yet and so the choiceofaproviderseemstrivialandhardtomake.inchapter6ofthis thesis, it was found that patients who were referred for diagnostic purposesseemtohavehadlessinputintotheirchoiceofprovider.and whenpatientsarediagnosedatthehospitaltheyendedupatinitially,it is illogical or inconvenient for them to switch to another hospital for treatment. It should therefore be explored how GPs or other medical personnel can assist patients in making active, deliberate choices. They could for example make patients aware of quality differences between hospitals,investigatewhethertheywantamoreactiveroleinthechoice of a provider, identify their preferences regarding healthcare providers anddiscussseveralreferraloptions.comparativeinformation,accessible for both GPs and patients, and decision aids to support the GP when helpingapatientchooseaprovidermightbeuseful.inaddition,waysof making it easier for patients to make an active choice throughout their whole healthcare pathway should be thought about. For example, communicationbetweenhospitalscouldbeimprovedtomakeiteasierto switch hospitals and patients should be made aware of their right to chooseatseveralmomentsalongtheirhealthcarepathway. Another factor that makes patients feel that they do not have the opportunity to choose a provider themselves is that they do not have insight into the quality of providers. Comparative information about providers should therefore be available and usable for all patients, no matter,forinstance,whatlevelofhealthliteracytheyhave(abilitytouse healthcareinformation).itisimportantthatthisinformationisaccessible forpatientsduringallstagesoftheirdisease,includingwhentheydonot Summary'and'discussion' 201

19 know their diagnosis yet and are searching for information about their complaints. Research is currently being conducted on the influence of patients abilitytomanagetheirownhealthandcareonwhethertheycan anddomakeactivechoicesandthewayinformationshouldbepresented to patients. Additionally, the National Healthcare institute assumes at presentthatitismoreappropriatetoprovidepatientswithinformation about health complaints instead of about a specific diagnosis, because patientsneedinformationfromthestartoftheirillnessinsteadofwhen theyalreadyknowtheirdiagnosis. Whilepatientchoiceisencouraged,othergovernmentalmeasuresleadto fewerchoiceoptionsintheproximityofthepatientsandarestrictionof theirfreedomtochooseaprovider.forinstance,asinsurersareexpected to be prudent buyers of healthcare on behalf of the patients, they are encouraged to contract healthcare selectively. Consequently, there are fewerprovidersavailableinthepatients proximity,which,accordingto ourstudies,determinestheopportunityforpatientstochooseaprovider. Lesshighlyeducatedolderpatientsinparticulararelessinclinedtomake active provider choices if their freedom and opportunity to choose a providerarerestricted.astheelderlycomprisethemajorityofhealthcare consumers,theneedforhealthcareproviderstocompeteonqualityand pricetoobtainpatientsmightbereduced.intheend,measuressuchas theconcentrationandselectivecontractingofhealthcareareatoddswith patient choice, while all are advocated as a means of improving healthcare quality and efficiency, either directly or by encouraging competition.ifencouragingpatientchoiceisagoalofhealthcarepolicy, policy makers and healthcare insurers should weigh up the pros and consofconcentratingandselectivelycontractinghealthcare. Although followvup research should be conducted into the differences betweenthepatientgroupsthatwedefined,thisthesisalreadyindicates that there is diversity between patients in the way they choose a healthcare provider. This diversity should be taken into account while thinkingaboutmeasurestoincreasethequalityofhealthcareandenable and encourage patient choice. For instance, making patients aware of theirrighttochooseatseveralmomentsduringtheirhealthcarepathway, offering free transport and making comparative information usable for allpatients(insteadofonlyforwellveducatedandliteratepatients)might be useful measures for patients without the opportunity to choose. Patients who take the default option despite the fact that they do not 202 'Chapter'8

20 encounterbarrierstochoosing,ontheotherhand,mightbeencouraged tochooseiftheyaremadeawareoftherelevanceofchoosingahospital thatisbestabletohelpthem,forinstancebythegpwhocouldalsohelp themmakeachoice.patientswhoexhibitchoicebehaviourmightvalue theavailabilityofcomparativeinformationtosupporttheirchoices. " " Conclusion" " How' do' patients' choose' a' particular' healthcare' provider,' which' factors' determine' patients ' processes' of' making' a' choice' and' could' patient' choice' (both'the'opportunity'to'choose'and'active'choice)'bring'about'the'intended' effects?' " Patient choice of healthcare providers is a central element in today s healthcare policy, both as a goal in itself or V alternatively formulated V an important benefit for patients (having choice opportunity) and as an instrumenttoenhancequalityofcarebyencouragingcompetitionbetween providers (making active choices). However, instead of choosing a healthcare provider actively, the majority of patients go to the default provider. Patients are simply not bothered about the choice of a provider. Thereisnoreasonforthemtobe,becausetheyarecontentwithandloyalto the default provider or to the physician who chose a provider on their behalf. Others do not even have the opportunity to choose a provider actively, mostly because they did not have a clear choice moment during theirhealthcarepath.someoftheidentifiedbarrierstopatientchoicemight bereducedbysatisfyingtheconditionsforpatientchoicethatpolicymakers have formulated. Most, however, are inherent in the healthcare sector. Although the logic of choosing is consistent with the workings of free markets,whereautonomouspeoplemaketheirownchoicesbetweencertain specific, clearly defined products, it does not fit well in the dayvtovday realityofhealthcare.otherprinciplesseemtoapplytherethatthelogicof caring might be better able to describe. Policy makers may therefore be trying in vain to bring principles originating from neoclassical microeconomic theory into healthcare. On the other hand, it should be realisedthatalthoughthelogicofchoosingdoesnotfitintohealthcare,the logicofcaringisnotatoddswithpatientchoice.thisisexemplifiedbythe opportunity to choose being associated with better patient experiences. Summary'and'discussion' 203

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